Thresholds for the obligation to appoint auditors and statutory auditors have been raised

In the Official Gazette of 17 June 2019, the 55/2019 law was published converting Decree 31/2019 (c.d. Decree “Reopening Construction Sites”), which amended art. 2477 of the Italian Civil Code, already amended by art. 379 of the Corporate Code (Legislative Decree no. 14/2019). In so doing, thresholds for the obligation to appoint statutory auditors and auditors in limited companies have been raised.

Such appointment is mandatory if the limited company:

1. is required to prepare consolidated financial statements;
2. controls a company that is required to produce a statutory audit;
3. has exceeded, for two years running, at least one of the following limits:

• total balance sheet assets: 4 million euro (compared with 2 million euro previously);
• revenue from sales and services: 4 million euro (compared to 2 million euro previously);
• average employees during the financial year: 20 units (instead of 10 units previously).

The obligation to appoint statutory auditors and auditors will no longer apply if, for three consecutive financial years, none of these limits is exceeded.

These thresholds will now apply to 80 thousand companies compared to 140 thousand companies included in previous thresholds.

Companies that have appointed the auditing body on the basis of the previous limits may revoke it for just cause.